Denver airport set for major expansion
Renovations to improve security, add capacity
DENVER – Travelers passing through Denver International Airport face several years of construction as authorities revamp the terminal building and gates to provide better security screening and add capacity for flyers.
Denver, the nation’s fifth-busiest airport, served more than 61 million passengers last year, and managers say the newly launched renovations will increase its capacity to 80 million.
The first and most obvious renovations will be to the Great Hall, the iconic white tented main terminal that evokes Colorado’s snow-capped peaks and – when first opened – offered a calm, peaceful experience for departing passengers.
Simultaneously, the airport is adding 39 gates.
“When the airport opened in 1995, the TSA didn’t exist and passenger expectations of an airport were vastly different,” airport CEO Kim Day said in announcing the renovations. “Today, the Great Hall is well above its design capacity of 50 million passengers and is filled with noisy passenger screening operations and has no space in which to accommodate growth.
“The Great Hall project will reconfigure and better utilize the existing space in the terminal to create a safer, more efficient and better travel experience while returning the Great Hall to its original purpose of a travelers’ oasis.”
Denver, one of the nation’s newest airports, opened in 1995 to great fanfare and accolades for its spacious terminal building filled with natural light and public art. But modifications driven by TSA-run security has created a cacophonous circus-like atmosphere as thousands of passengers wait to take off their shoes and remove liquids from their carry-on bags.
By late 2020, the airport will feature automated security lines of the kind used by airports in Atlanta and London. Officials say those automated lines are generally more efficient, in part because they free up TSA agents to screen passengers instead of moving plastic bins around.
The construction will bring in 10 new shops and restaurants to the Great Hall by May 2019. Once complete, airport officials say, the renovations will help Denver better serve the majority of passengers who want to pass through security before they pause for a meal or coffee.
A public-private partnership is managing the Great Hall renovation, which has a price tag of up to $770 million, including a contingency fund created to pay for any unexpected TSA or airlinerequired changes based on new technology. Also included in the renovation is an expanded international arrivals area, reflecting the airport’s increasing schedule of nonstop flights connecting it to destinations in places such as Mexico, Europe and Asia.
The private company helping with the construction recently completed renovations to London Heathrow’s Terminals 2 and 5.